I would face it first, removing as little as possible.
IF someday my special order spoil board yes its 5x8 feet comes in I hope to get this done on mine. Meantime I have a $100 job to do in the morning regardless. When you faced your spoil board did you take off a lot? I ran a dial indicator on two of my cross supports and was off .036 inch on one, ant the other at the back only .020. So do I face the spoil board first and then try to square?? Suggestions welcome.
1000x750 Workbee CNC - Mach4 - PMDX USB - Windows 10 Pro
I would face it first, removing as little as possible.
Gerry
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Ditto what Gerry said - always face it first. I take off only as much as is needed to get the entire board flat. Unless I'm in a hurry I start with about 1/32" just to see where the high/low spots are but that's probably just me being curious and a bit on the conservative side.
David
David
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I second Gerry and David. Surface first.
I used a pencil to scribble wavy lines all over the top and then took a few thousands off at a time until all of the pencil lines were gone. I used a 1-1/2" (1/2" shank) bottom cleaning bit to do the surfacing. As long as you're trammed, it does a nice job and the it's inexpensive for a bit this size. The Yonico 14976 sells for $22.95 with free shipping.
Another decent deal is the CMT 663.004.11 bit. It sells for about $77 on Amazon and is 2 3/8" diameter with indexable carbide inserts. It is a little pricey, but a good deal compared to others of similar size. The only down side is that it has a 12mm shank instead of 1/2 inch. A 1/2 inch collet doesn't really squeeze down that far. Also nice for facing large slabs of rough-cut lumber. Helpful when you don't have a 12" jointer to go with your 12" planer.
-Robert
Thank you for the information, Robert. I just ordered the CMT. I also ordered a Techniks ER20 12mm collet on Ebay. I bought them mostly for wide lumber facing (wider than my planer). I have t-tracks, 1/4-20 screws and blocks for hold downs, and virtually never cut into my spoilboard. I zero to my spoilboard, do a g90 move to the nominal thickness of what I'm cutting and reset Z=0 at the nominal thickness of the material. If I'm not cutting full thickness anywhere on the piece, I zero off the top of the material.
Thanks again,
Gary
You must of retapped your table holes as mine are 6mm. I have a 1/2 inch (I hope) shank facing bit to use.
1000x750 Workbee CNC - Mach4 - PMDX USB - Windows 10 Pro
Sorry. I didn't provide enough info. I currently have an 80/20 extrusion 4x4. My spoilboard is mounted with 5/16" screws and t-nuts. I'm thinking about upgrading to a Saturn 2 and will deal with the tapped holes and spacing with it.
I like the rigidity of a 1/2" (or 12mm) shank for most things that don't absolutely require a smaller shank.
If you're interested in a T-track setup, you might want to look at Orange Aluminum as a source. Best price I've found, and they are good quality.
Gary
Thanks Gary. I have my T slots and whatever. I did also come up with a drill pattern for the 4x4 machine I have, so I am happy not to have to locate and drill 30 holes.
1000x750 Workbee CNC - Mach4 - PMDX USB - Windows 10 Pro